I looked at Austin and Ruby who were sinking too. A deep laughter filled the air, a voice that seemed remotely familiar, but I just couldn't put a name on it. "You three aren't getting to my tower. No, no you really aren't going to get there. Not if I can help it," the voice bellowed. "Run!" I screamed, and tried to run through the sand that I was knee deep in, but I only sunk deeper. Running through it was like trying to run away from a monster in a nightmare, but your legs feel stuck. And if you can move, it takes all of your energy.
We weren't far from the tower, no more than 20 feet away. I noticed that standing still rises you up, and moving sinks you down. But I didn't have the time to worry about that then. We had to get to the tower as fast as possible. I didn't dare think about how much gold might be left in the keyhole. So I just ran. A sad attempt at that.
The deep laughing continued as I struggled through the sand, ignoring Austin, who was screaming at me to stop. At this point, I was up to my armpits in the sand, but all too caught up in the moment, I continued to sink down, but now only a few feet from the tower. Ruby and Austin were following me, but only ankle deep in the sand, since they had stood still for much longer than me. I couldn't have been any more than a yard away from the concrete surrounding the castle, when my head went under. It wasn't much longer until everything went dark.
I woke up covered in sand, lying on cold concrete, with Ruby and Austin on either side of me, staring at me nervously. I tried to sit up, but they each put a hand on my shoulder and gently pushed me back down. "Not yet. Just lie down a bit longer. You really need some rest," Austin said with a sad smile. He must have pulled me out. I wonder how they got the rest of the way. He has seemed really different since what happened with Tyler. Still very sarcastic on occasion, but serious and friendly when something happened to one of us. To my relief, I looked up, and saw the tower.
